Ateneo - UPO

The course includes: a pathophysiology part focused on the functional alterations caused by diseases, in particular those related to nutrition, with some practical laboratory activities; an immunology part focused on the alterations of the immune system in allergies and autoimmune diseases.

Robbins and Cotran
The pathologic bases of disease.
Elsevier
Kuby Immunology, ed. W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd; Janeway "Immunobiology" - ed. Garland Science.
Scientific papers provided during the course.

The student must acquire the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the most important diseases related to nutrition, in particular those due to gene-environment interactions and to the alterations of the immune system. The student must be able to use the correct scientific terminology.

Basic knowledge of the principles of molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, genetics, histology, physiology, general pathology.

The course will be held in class, with power point slides, that will be provided to the student.

Written exam with 40 multiple-choice questions on pathophysiology subjects and 5 open questions on immunology subjects. A minimum score of 18/30 is needed to pass the exam.
The exam consists in an oral test. The student will show to have acquired adequate information on General Pathology, Pathophysiology and Immunology and to be able to use this information to analyse the pathophysiological mechanisms of the most frequent human diseases.

Pathophysiology:
- Pathophysiology of lipid metabolism
- The causes and biology of cancer
- Water- and fat-soluble vitamins and their deficiencies.
- Protein-energy malnutrition.
- Laboratory activities: cell counting, protein extraction and quantification; DNA isolation. Theory of PCR and quantitative PCR.

Immunobiology:
- Allergy and hypersensitivity
- Tolerance and food allergy (pathogenetic mechanisms)
- Diagnostic test of food allergies
- Autoimmune diseases: organic and systemic, antibodies and cell-mediated
- Examples of autoimmune disease and pathogenetic mechanisms
- Etiology of autoimmune disease (environmental factors: infection and nutrition)
- Introduction to the intestinal microbiota: composition, diversity, concepts of dysbiosis and eubiosis
- Impact of diet and lifestyle on the microbiota
- Intestinal microbiota and allergies
- The intestine-brain axis and role in autoimmunity
- Microbiota revolution (personalized medicine): prebiotics, probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation (TMF)

The student must acquire the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the most important diseases related to nutrition, in particular those due to gene-environment interactions and to the alterations of the immune system. The student must be able to use the correct scientific terminology.
The student will acquire information on the most important pathophysiological processes that cause disease.
The student will also acquire the ability to apply the information to the study of the mechanism of human disease.